Whitehall puts off budget referendum

State deadlines won't allow a vote on shift of powers until Nov. 2.

February 02, 2004|By Kirk Beldon Jackson Of The Morning Call

A proposed referendum to transfer the power to reopen an approved budget from the Whitehall Township executive to the township commissioners missed Tuesday's deadline for placement on the April 27 primary ballot.

But the referendum still has time for the Nov. 2 election.

"We approve the budget and we don't have a right to revisit it? That doesn't make any sense," said Commissioner Linda Snyder, pushing for the referendum.

But Township Executive Glenn Solt said that, if approved, the referendum would remove "the system of checks and balances" necessary for good government. "It puts the entire process into the hands of the commissioners."

Though not on the agenda, the question may come up at 7 tonight at a commissioners' meeting.

The matter first arose at a Jan. 12 meeting. Township solicitor Charles Fonzone concluded the township's home rule charter regulates the budget process and leaves the decision to the township executive. The First Class Township code, which would grant the power to commissioners, does not apply in this case, he wrote.

Township commissioners will have to draft and approve an ordinance establishing the referendum, said Solt. For inclusion on the April 27 primary ballot, the township would have had to file the referendum at least 13 weeks beforehand, said Betty Hillwig, chief clerk of the Lehigh County Board of Elections.

Snyder insists her proposal is not directed at Solt personally. New commissioners coming on the board should have a say in the budget, she said, adding that the township's financial situation may change between budget approval and the time the newcomers arrive.

"It's just a thing that makes sense," she said.

Board newcomer Clair Hunsberger said the referendum would benefit the township by opening the budget to a commissioner who might have "a better idea" of how to spend money more efficiently.

"I don't see why not," he said. "If she wants to spearhead it, that's up to her. But I would be in favor of it."

Solt said it is the job of commissioners -- even outgoing ones -- to draft a budget for the following year. Allowing an incoming board to undo the work of a previous one makes the first board's service "completely irrelevant with respect to the budget," he said.

"You are giving commissioner-elects more power over the budget than the current commissioners," he said.